Wombat Creek Tramways

With the tracks finished, the narrow gauge railway definitely needs rolling stock. At the moment the entire fleet consists of three steam locomotives, one big passenger coach and four ore wagons. None of this is typical for a narrow gauge railway in Victoria, so it is time to get constructive!

Almost 50 years ago I bought four scale N wagons (made in Yugoslavia) for $1.60 each! The purpose of the purchase has always been to use the chassis and bogies for HOe/OO9 stock. Finally this is going to happen.

The sawmill supplies the mines with fire wood and props and will need open wagons like the Victorian Railways NQR.

Our five friends of the Bellcord are devastated. Their preferred block of land for the jazz club has disappeared along with the fire station? What is going on?

A day in Melbourne saw me riding trains and trams all over the city. First a visit to a model railway shop purchasing joiners and an ice cream van. The joiners are needed to finish off both the narrow gauge line and the tramways. The van will be a centre part of a small cameo on the embankment.

An electronics shop provided me with a ‘countdown timer’, which (in theory) should extend the journey along the mining line with up to four minutes.

The research involved a trip to Clifton Hill. As seen in the photo a group of youngsters with fancy cars have set their eyes on the corner block between the Fire Station and the Bank. A perfect spot for a jazz club called ‘the Bellcord’. As the ‘chief architect’ I have come up with a design like this:

The former United Kingdom Hotel in Clifton Hill (nowadays a very unusual McDonald’s). The time frame for the build will be sometime this year. Well, it will always be this year since time in Wombat Creek has been frozen into 1963.

The research continued to this lovely tram shelter not far from Camberwell station. A perfect fit for the stop at the embankment. The build shouldn’t take too long.

With 35+ degrees outside and Test Cricket on the television inside you know, where you want to be. I managed a few shrubs for the embankment whilst Australia managed South Africa!

PS: The wombat is still there.

‘Grass’ (fake fur) and a few wombat holes have been added to the embankment. A small platform along the railway makes the interchange between the tram and train somewhat easier. Up the top part of the street has be sealed and a footpath put down.

Still to come are shrubs and bushes on the slopes, a tram shelter for waiting passengers up the top and perhaps a Mr. Whippy ice-cream van!

Watching the latest video it is clear the area around the Big Nugget Mine and the Explosives Factory lacks landscaping. With pieces of scrap cardboard and A4 prints the embankment along the tram track towards the terminus at the Explosives Factory has been enclosed.

Next step is ‘planting’ strips of fake fur (used for teddy bears). The fur has been trimmed down and sprayed with green paint.

The the completion of part of the loop around the future gold mine it is possible to get an idea of running multiple trams simultaneously. Only one of the tracks as been finished and traffic will only run clockwise.

The video also shows what a difference landscaping (cityscaping) make. The view from the Explosives factory is rather bare. A lot of work has to be done!

Enjoy the video!

As mentioned in a previous post the second bridge over the Creek and railway is too narrow for two trams passing at the same time. To regulate the traffic flow traffic lights are needed. Fortunately I came across a website for ‘Talking Electronics’. Among lot of electronic devices (several related to model railways) was a controller for up to four traffic lights. I got in contact with the gentleman behind the electronics and yesterday I picked up a set of lights for a reasonable price. Everything was already put together and ready to go. I still have some work to do before the lights can be installed at the layout, but the short video shows their working. They are Australian and the sequence is red-gren-yellow-red.